


A Friend Closer Than A Brother

by nickthequick



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-31
Updated: 2020-03-31
Packaged: 2021-02-28 22:00:59
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,068
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23414230
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nickthequick/pseuds/nickthequick
Summary: When Professor McGonagall suspects that Remus Lupin's homework was actually written by James Potter, she has some questions for James.
Kudos: 10





	A Friend Closer Than A Brother

**Author's Note:**

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Professor McGonagall’s quarters, October 1972

She toed off her boots and let a grateful moan of relief escape as some of the tension eased in her feet. It had been a relatively long day, but who was she kidding? Practically all of her days were long and felt damn near impossible. But Minerva McGonagall was determined to not only make an indelible mark on future witches and wizards, but also prove her family wrong and show them that a woman could, indeed, be a Head at Hogwarts.

After swapping her deep navy robes and pointy hat for her flannel pajama set, the thirty-seven year old Scottish witch settled on top of the scarlet and gold comforters of her bed. Her day wasn’t over just yet; she still had the second years essay on the Hardening Charm to grade.

Mind you, it was a third-year lesson, but Minerva always thought this class to be particularly capable and saw no point in going over things that were evidently child’s play. That was how students came to be bored and, in her experience, wreak havoc in class.

Reading through the essays was relatively simple. Although she was a critical grader, Professor McGonagall was also fair and, if all the basic ideas and concepts were there, she resigned herself to giving no less than a B. Some students, much like Remus Lupin, were far better at the practical application of Transfiguration than explaining the theory of it and, to her, that was perfectly fine.

About halfway through the essays and having been particularly impressed by Lily Evans’ ideas, she came to the Lupin boy’s essay. Her beady eyes skimmed the neat script. It wasn’t the typical messy scrawl that she had grown accustomed to seeing from Remus. Instinctively, she reached for the assignments that the class had handed in yesterday. Skimming through the endless bits of parchments was tedious, but eventually Minerva found what she was looking for.

James Potter’s assignment.

She held the two assignments side by side. The handwriting was identical and the assignment that was allegedly turned in by Lupin, was undoubtedly written by James Potter. The boy hadn’t even turned in an assignment for himself, perhaps to avoid this very discovery.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

“And do not forget to continue working on your Hardening Charms, I’ve seen good progress over the last week - oh, Potter, a word, if you will.”

She didn’t miss the nervous glance Remus gave his friend or the fact that the three boys, including Sirius Black and Peter Pettigrew had stopped short at the door, evidently intent on waiting for James.

“This can’t be good,” Minerva was almost certain she heard Sirius whisper to Remus.

“Black, Pettigrew and Lupin,” She said, her eyes shifting between the three boys, “I only require Mr. Potter. I’m sure you all can manage to find your next class without his assistance? Go on,” McGonagall said stiffly when they didn’t budge. “Now. Potter, sit down, please.”

The twelve year old boy was definitely going to be an outstanding NEWT level student in Transfiguration. He was confident in class and was usually the first to grasp the practical application, followed closely by Remus. And James Potter was certainly never at a loss for words in her class, always having a well thought-out answer to most questions. But now, as she sat across from him, all she saw was an incredibly nervous child.

The Transfiguration professor had purposely held onto the assignment that she had handed back to the rest of the class. Without so much as a word, she placed two pieces of parchment side by side in front of James. One was the offending assignment turned in under Remus’ name, which was clearly written in his handwriting, and the other was their most recent assignment, the evidence confirming his transgression.

“Professor, I can exp - “

Her eyebrows shot up, intrigued, “You have my undivided attention.”

“Well, you see, Remus - er - broke his hand!” James concocted quickly, “And I wrote his essay out for him, as any good friend would.”

She pursed her lips, willing to entertain this ruse, “Oh? But Lupin’s hand looked perfectly fine to me today.”

“Well, that’s because he went to Madam Pomfrey - “

“And it healed so quickly?”

The boy was searching nervously for what was sure to be another lie to cover up his tracks. “Yes, well, that’s because uh - “

“Are you quite sure, Potter, that you did not, for some reason, do Lupin’s assignment for him?” She asked finally, knowing fully well what such a ‘reason’ would’ve been. Lupin’s condition wasn’t unbeknownst to her, neither was the fact that he had been absent from class last week. Perhaps it had been an especially bad full moon, “If you did, now is the time to clean about it.”

“Please don’t punish, Remus,” said James, his voice full of innocent shame. “I’ll take the zero but it’s really not his fault.”

She felt a wave of conflict within her. On one hand, the professor was slightly disappointed that neither of her students had the good sense to come and talk to her about this. But on the other hand, McGonagall wondered why they didn’t? Was she really that unapproachable?

“Potter, I’m aware of certain things regarding Lupin,” Minerva said, holding a hand up to stop him when he started to speak, “Even though I am fully aware of his circumstances, you shouldn’t betray his trust by discussing it with me.”

He nodded dutifully.

“I will not penalize Mr. Lupin,” McGonagall offered tentatively, “But you will come to my office after dinner to redo this assignment. Is that clear?”

A look of relief crossed his face. She was almost sure that it was from her assurance that Lupin would not suffer any consequences, rather than her giving him the opportunity to make up the assignment. Even had she given him a zero, it wouldn’t have substantially affected his grade.

“Yes, Professor.”

She looked at him, satisfied that he understood the impropriety of what he had done and said, “Very well. You may go to your next class. Oh and Potter?” McGonagall as he made a beeline for the door. “I’m sure Lupin appreciates your friendship very much.”

He gave her a crooked smile before walking out of the classroom and pelting down the hallway. And, to be perfectly honest, Professor McGonagall appreciated the fact that Remus Lupin had such friends.


End file.
